


Playing the part

by krsisa



Category: Figure Skating RPF
Genre: Ice Skating
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-22
Updated: 2016-07-06
Packaged: 2018-07-16 12:59:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 2,342
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7269181
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/krsisa/pseuds/krsisa
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The connection runs deep but are they just playing a part ?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

His foot poked at the fresh formed snow as he sat outside the rink….waiting.  
He heard her before he saw her.  
The tell tale jingling of her bracelet she had been wearing all the festive season.  
One of her many designs of her ‘jewellery collaboration’.This was the part of their 'year of saying yes’ post sochi.

He closed his eyes to see if his senses could trace her direction. Carpark? No…her footfalls were too soft. Across the park ? No….he could smell her perfume so she must be close - it wasn’t floral , more like juniper berries.

'Are you going to sit there all day dreaming Moir or are we going to practice?” she let out with that half squeal half laugh he loved so much.

His eyes flew open. Typical Tessa. She came off all demure and sweet but there was a side to her only he knew. Tough, competitive and strong. Anyone who had seen their performance of Carmen 2011 got a glimpse into the ‘other Tessa”.

Right before that program started she whispered in his ear so quietly he almost thought he dreamt it “I’m going to have you Moir and the whole world is going to watch me do it .” 

“So what do you say Moir” Her voice brought him back to the present.

“Let’s get inside and out of the cold and get this done” she demanded as she extended her hand to pull him up from the bench he was perched on.

By this - she meant their new routine - it was a departure from the Virtue Moir of the past. They had done sweet, innocent but also sexy and dramatic….this was a mix of all 4.

It was a mature sophisticated piece. God that sounds like Marina, he inwardly chuckled. “When zee man loves zee woman…” Truth was he didn’t know what it was like to love Tessa, she would never let him. There was always some distraction : a tour, a PR event, an exhibition. She was so driven. People thought he was the driver but the truth was he always felt like the puppy dog that trailed along behind her.

Right Moir ….pull yourself together….the routine…No time to get all reminiscent

She had already placed her guards at the boards and was on the ice when he tugged off his guards and joined her. As he approached her arm came forward and she pulled him to her and they began an impromptu waltz around the ice.

It felt comfortable, it felt familiar, it felt like home.

People often compared their relationship to a brother and a sister. He didn’t have any sisters yet she had brothers. Nope not that! Brothers and sisters don’t touch each other the way they did. Hands in intimate places, all to support a movement, a hold, a lift. The sideways glances and the knowing looks.

Sure it was their job to create characters but it was somehow more than that. He often wondered how she felt about the ‘acting’. He knew that it was so different for him. Acting was what he did when he was interviewed. All that being gracious, complimenting the competition when all you really wanted to do was tell the honest truth about your performance. The honest truth….that was a concept that he was no longer in touch with.

Thoughts like this mulled through his head as they moved across the ice. Turning this way and that, naturally in sync. Her chest beginning to heave in and out as they moved and turned faster and faster.

He impulsively changed his hold and as ever she trusted and moved with him. He turned her further towards him and lifted her so her eyes were forced to look up at him. Those familiar green eyes looking almost through him.

The sound of clapping broke the moment and they whirled around to see Marie France Dubriel standing at the boards tapping her watch. It was time - time to create, practice, engineer, to believe that how she looked into his eyes in the next hour was true and real and not simply a team mate playing her part.


	2. Chapter 2

She saw him as soon as her car pulled into the car park. The familiar silhouette was sitting on the bench outside the rink kicking at the snow. His brow furrowed deep in thought, this chocolate brown eyes closed against the sun. She had forgotten how handsome he could be. To her he was just scotty - her scotty. Well technically not hers. He always seemed to be in one new relationship or another. But she just couldn't help feeling a part of him was hers. 

She left the car park and circled around towards his shadow from behind. He was the joker not her but every now and then she enjoyed seeing his mouth creep into a deep grin at her antics. His hair was longer, she hadn't noticed this before - it waved down into the nape of his muscular neck . The neck she clasped her hands around ever so gently in many of their lifts - yet a place she relied upon to steady and support her. To be her anchor.

Snow flicked towards him as she approached, half giggling half speaking as she chided him to get inside and begin their day of practice. She had forgotten how in a simple laugh he could evoke such pure joy. Their interactions were always so easy, fun and pleasurable. In her own mind she often compared him inevitably to boyfriends of days past. None of them compared to how content he felt when she was with Scott. Everything felt so comfortable, it had to. The intimate moves they had to perform meant you had to lose the giddiness in order to practice lift positions with hands in all manner of weird places. Then on performance day you had to have all the nuances of a new romantic relationship and at times downright lustful feelings. The feeling that every touch every hand hold was electric and new.

It all came back to Carmen - that was the turning point for her. Yes their coach Marina wanted them to show a ‘grown up’ image but it was so much more than that for her. She needed to be able to exhale, to exhibit that pent up energy Scott created inside her and maybe, just maybe he might ‘get’ it. Maybe he would see beyond her and into her. All these years she was just his T - his mate, buddy, someone he needed to protect not someone he could love.

She was grateful to be on the ice again, it felt like the safest place earth to be. It was her escape, from her thoughts about Scott and all the complications being true to herself might bring. She felt his hands clasp hers and quickly they were dancing across the ice. Damn he was a good dancer, he had a fluidity of motion that she enjoyed so much. In his arms she felt beautiful, like a bird flying across a lake but mostly she felt loved. She didn't look into his eyes, she didn't want to spoil the moment. Perhaps she would look up and she wouldn't see love, she would see ‘concentration’ and that would break her. 

She always wondered how close she had come to understanding him. Always when she thought their connection was so strong and unbreakable, he would become so distant. He would be off to see family, spend time with the latest girlfriend and she couldn't help feeling empty and alone. She simply couldn't believe that it was all an act. That the way his eyes took her in, his arms drew her to him and enfolded her was just two friends chasing their sporting dreams. She didn't have to act. She keenly felt the butterflies, the whispers, the affect of his touch. Her smiles, laughter and kisses were real. They drained her of all her energy, having to display all of this infront of cameras and audiences yet not admit the truth of it.

Ever so quickly before she could stop it he turned her slightly and upward so she had no choice but to look into his eyes. His mouth bent into a wry smile - the corners upturned - like he had a secret only his eyes could tell her. She felt him break the moment before she heard the sharp clap of hands. There was their new coach at the boards calling them to practice and Scott lapsed into Mr Business. She had lost him yet again . It was time for them to start the new routine - it might make them , it might break them but no matter what she had to play her part.


	3. Chapter 3

He had knew what it was like to kiss her. He knew exactly how her lips felt - warm, soft - like velvet brushing your skin - but she had never really kissed him. For real anyway.

When they skated it felt like every touch - every hand hold was real. The choreographed moments when she skate towards him and her mouth brushed his - he dreamt was deliberate but he knew deep down it was all part of the performance.

How could he know this ? When all the fans believed it to be real ? He saw her at practice - the forced smiles - the touches that were timed to the minute of the music. The immediate change in body language when the music ceased.

He dreamed about her - he thought that maybe the pretence was some sort of cover - to protect their privacy from all the fan posts . Deep down in his heart he knew better - she was the consummate actress - agreeable but never available -he felt he knew her when she was alone on the ice with him and looking into his eyes; he felt he removed all the impediments between them but so soon he was brought back to reality by routine, the art and the steps. There was always someone watching - someone with a camera to capture their every glance and touch. Someone to blog their every move. And Tessa knew it implicitly.

He held her in dance pose - they stroked the ice - gathering a rhythm - he was at peace - enjoying her beauty and serenity . She seemed happy to be in his arms.

He thought often of their journey - the toughs times - the exciting adventures - the little girl who was more than a sister. He smiled - thinking of her when they were teens - trying to be ‘adult’  
not ‘junior’ - trying to embody the sexy vibe - yet so young and innocent - in his absence of mind her arm caught his and they turned suddenly - into a spin - she crouched into him arms bent, legs extended and a serene look on her face - he loved to see her like this - no one caught her expressions or short intakes of breath - no camera could get that close.

He glanced downward and caught her torso - strong, every muscle defined - her head released back into total trust and joy.

His friends often joked about ‘his partner’ and he took it in good humour - they would never understand his affiliation to Tess. She was his whole world. 

He just needed to know she felt the same way


	4. Chapter 4

His hand was on her waist - his fingers curled around her hand as they moved effortlessly around the ice. He was silent and calm, as always his strong touch calming her nerves and anxieties.

HIs face was clear and this thoughts unreadable. She often wondered what he was thinking when they skated. She knew exactly what she hoped it was. She took in his face full of strong features, loving eyes and impish grin. She wondered what it would be like to kiss those lips. So many times she had felt his warm breath as they drifted too close. That was the thing about skating, you had to check your inhibitions at the door. You had to be really comfortable with touching, feeling, emoting and generally breathing each other.

The breathing was her favourite part. Whenever she felt anxious or nervous, he enveloped her in this type of silent hug/cuddle where they breathed in and out until they were in time to each other and her nerves slipped away.

Much of this was made in the fandoms and TV promos - the angsty looks and the close hugging. Yet she was oblivious to the cameras - all she saw was Scott, all she felt was his heart beating, his lungs rising up and down and the touch of his hand on her skin. This was her peace. 

She forced herself to smile through the practices, scared she would give away her real thoughts. She tried to time her touches to the music but as each bar finished she wished the hand hold or touch lingered. The moment was always broken by the music. She startled , back to reality , checking herself that no one saw how lost in him she was.

She hated all the pretence, she hated that she could never be exactly who she wanted to be. She wanted to open her eyes whilst in his arms and kiss his beautiful face and feel him kiss her back. The truth was she couldn’t. She had seen how he was with the ‘other ones’. She knew that he cared for her and would never hurt her but she also saw the way he kept himself steady with her. Always the perfect gentleman, the consumate actor. He would never deny her his touch but he never fully gave it either.

They began to spin - she leaned back and braced into the movement with him and against him. She loved being in his arms like this - arched back with no way to see into his eyes , total trust in him as her anchor.

She knew he appreciated her as a skater and she understood that he cared for her as a deep confidante - their trust was implicit but somehow this was not enough.


End file.
